Related Articles

Tell Obama to Protect American Jobs

May 2, 2014

Activists are calling on President Obama to get serious about cracking down on currency manipulation.Photo credit: White House

During President Obama’s recent tour of Asia, many issues were discussed with foreign heads of state. At the top of Obama’s agenda was the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed trade agreement among the United States and 12 other Pacific Rim nations.

But one of the most important issues for working families got short shrift: Currency manipulation.

Critics say the TPP doesn’t include rules that get tough on currency manipulators.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing writes:

Currency manipulation is very real and very damaging to the American manufacturers and the people they employ. By making its currency artificially cheap, a foreign government can cut the costs of the goods its makers sell into our market and effectively tax our exports as well. That means fewer orders for American factories. And fewer orders mean fewer jobs.

Japan, one of signatory nations to the TPP, has a long history of currency manipulation, undervaluing the Yen as much as 30 percent.

The AAM is calling on supporters of good jobs to send Obama a letter telling him not to agree to a TPP deal without a currency manipulation rule.